-'ones,  Thomas  ?• 


-A dress  On   The  Pror^ress  Of  1-^nuf actures  And  Intemel 
Improvement  In  The  United  States..* 


DUKE 
UNIVERSITY 


LIBRARY 


•4! 


PROGRESS   OF  MANUFACTURES 

AND 

Kntetnal  Kmiivoiiement, 

IN  THE  UNITED  STATES; 

AND  PARTICULABLT, 

ON  THE  ADVANTAGES  TO  BE  DERIVED         • 

FROM  THE 

EMPLOYMENT  OF  SLAVES 

IN  THE 

MANUFACTURING  OF  COTTON  AND  OTHER  GOODS. 


DELIVERED  IN  THE  HALL  OF  THE  FRANKLIN  INSTITUTE, 

November  6,  1827. 


BY  THOMAS  P.  JONES,  M.  D. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

PURLISIIED  BY  .lUDAH  DOBSON,  AGENT,  108  CHESNUT  STREET. 
JKSPER  HARDING,  PHTNTER. 

1  S9.r 


^'it>l>t>'\ 


^^'  .  3  l^(^  . 

NOTICE. 


THE  following  Address  is  published  in  conformity  with 
the  desire  of  several  gentlemen  who  were  present  at  its  de- 
livery. For  the  sentiments  expressed,  on  the  subject  of  the 
employment  of  slaves  in  the  southern  states,  the  author  is 
alone  responsible?  although  delivered  before  the  Franklin 
Institute,  it  is  not  to  be  viewed  as  emanating  from  that  body, 
as  all  interference  in  the  question  discussed,  would  be  foreign 
to  the  objects,  for  the  promotion  of  which  that  society  was 
formed.  An  individual  who  knew  and  approved  the  views  of 
the  writer,  wished  him  to  promulgate  them,  as  he  believed  that 
good  would  be  thereby  produced:  the  hope  excited  was  suffi- 
ciently powerful,  and  the  occasion  of  opening  the  Institute  for 
the  present  session  was  embraced  for  the  purpose. 

The  essay  was  written  in  haste;  not  for  the  press,  but  to 
be  once  publicly  read,  and  then  placed  upon  the  shelf;  the 
writer  is  sensible  that  it  might  be  greatly  improved  by  a 
careful  revision,  and  a  remodelling  of  some  of  its  parts;  but 
his  other  avocations  forbid  the  devotion  of  any  time  to  this 
purpose,  without  delaying  the  publication,  and  thereby  lessen- 
ing the  chance  of  its  utility.  Should  the  editors  of  papers,  or 
others  who  feel  an  interest  upon  the  subject,  deem  the  whole, 
or  any  portion  of  it,  worth  promulgating,  it  is  entirely  at 
their  disposal. 

In  the  few  days  which  have  elapsed  since  its  delivery,  the 
author  has  heard  of  the  recent  adoption  of  measures  in  Rich- 
mond, Fredericksburg,  and  other  places  to  the  south,  for  the 
establishment  of  cotton  factories,  in  some  of  which  slaves  are  to 
be  employed;  as  his  views  are  American^  and  not  sectional,  and 
as  he  is  a  warm  friend  to  the  manufacturing  system,  the  intel- 
ligence has  afforded  him  unmixed  pleasure.  If  the  strength 
of  the  body  politic  will  be  promoted,  by  the  value  which  the 
manufactured  article  will  possess  over  the  raw  material,  it  will 
be  equally  so,  whether  this  value  be  impressed  at  Nate  hiioches, 
at  Eastport,  or  at  any  intermediate  point  of  the  union. 

Ph'dadd\)!da.  Nov.  I'i'/z.  loi^r. 


^^  d(>  b"] 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/Glethil^/addressonprogresOOjone 


ADDRESS. 


We  live  at  a  period  the  most  eventful,  and  the  most  fruit- 
ful of  glorious  anticipations,  as  respects  the  improvement  of 
the  human  mind,  and  the  consequent  exaltation  of  the  spe- 
cies. In  almost  every  corner  of  Christendom,  we  see  the 
light  of  moral  and  political  truth,  dispersing  that  darkness, 
which  it  has  been  the  interest,  and  the  endeavour,  of  most 
of  those  who  have  had  the  direction  of  political  and  eccle- 
siastical affairs,  to  perpetuate.  The  principles  of  freedom, 
and  the  rights  of  conscience,  are  now  asserted  and  claimed 
in  despite  of  autocracy  and  despotism.  The  ball  is  rolling 
onward,  increasing  in  volume  as  it  rolls,  and  will  eventually 
break  away  those  barriers  which  the  occupants  of  tottering 
thrones  are  raising  to  oppose  its  progress.  Edicts  for  per- 
petuating the  institutions  of  the  dark  ages,  aided  by  censorships 
on  the  press,  with  their  accompanying  efforts,  may,  for  a 
while,  retard,  or  rather  divert  its  course;  but  the  final  issue 
is  as  certain  as  the  laws  of  moral  and  physical  nature. 

Although  it  would  manifest  an  entire  ignorance  of  history, 
to  claim  for  our  country  the  first  promulgation  of  the  truth, 
that  '  the  Creator  has  made  all  men  equally  free,'  yet,  to  us  is 
justly  due  the  honour  of  being  the  first  people  who  have 
given  to  these  principles  their  full  development,  by  the  esta- 
blishment of  a  government  of  which  they  are  the  very  basis: 
and,  it  will  not  be  denied,  that  the  example  which  we  have 
thus  exhibited,  has  advanced  the  cause  of  freedom  in  Europe, 
many  ages  in  one. 

The  IJnited  States  exhibit  a  striking  example  of  the  in- 
fluence of  free  institutions  in  aiding  man  in  the  pursuit  of 
happiness,  by  the  promotion  of  all  those  arts  which  contri- 
bute to  his  security  and  his  comfort.  Where  the  productions 
of  mental  and  physical  efforts  belong  to  the  individuals  with 
whom  they  originate,  the  native  energies  of  the  human  mind 
are  incomparably  more  effective  in  attaining  the  objects  de- 
sired, than  any  artificial  encouragements  derived  from  other 
sources.  It  must  be  confessed,  that  we  owe  much  to  the 
situation  in  which  Providence  has  ])]accd  us;  as  for  example, 
to  the  fertility  of  our  soil,  our  exemjition  from  tithes,  and 
almost  from  rents,  in  consequence  of  the  facility  with  which 


every  industrious  man  may  become  a  proprietor;  and  to  the 
advantages  presented  by  noble  rivers,  and  thcnr  numerous  tri- 
butaries, by  which  intercourse  is  facilitated,  commerce  and 
manufactures  promoted,  and  the  land  irrigated.  We  need 
not,  however,  travel  far  from  the  confines  of  our  own  coun- 
try, to  find  others  possessiing  all  these  physical  advantages; 
yet  as  the  same  moral  causes  have  not  been  in  operation,  gifts 
even  superior  to  our  own  have  remained  unimproved,  and, 
in  many  instances,  unperceived.  Under  the  blessing  of  that 
guardian  Providence,  which  directs  the  affairs  of  men,  we 
are  mainly  indebted  for  the  freedom  which  we  now  enjoy,  to 
the  correct  ideas  of  the  inherent  rights  of  conscience,  which 
distinguished  the  first  settlers  of  our  country,  who  souo;ht  in 
it  an  asylum  from  that  oppression  to  which  the  violation  of 
these  principles  subjected  them  in  the  land  of  their  nativity: 
and  although  their  views  were  narrowed  by  the  prejudices 
of  the  age  in  which  they  lived,  and  they  sometimes  adopted 
measures  which  were  at  variance  with  the  rights  they  them- 
selves claimed,  the  germ  still  remained,  and  the  glorious  har- 
vest which  their  descendants  reap,  has  sprung  from  the  seeds 
planted  by  them. 

Time  will  not  allow,  nor  would  the  occasion  be  a  proper 
one,  for  us  to  take  a  view  of  the  rapid  advancement  which 
this  country  has  made  under  the  fostering  aid  of  a  free  go- 
vernment, and  the  patriotic  exertions  of  liberal  and  enlight- 
ened individuals.  That  spirit  of  free  inquiry,  and  that 
exemption  from  oppressive  restrictions,  which  are  the  very 
essence  of  our  political  institutions,  have  manifested  them- 
selves in  the  readiness  with  which  we  have  availed  ourselves 
of  the  peculiarities  in  the  situation  of  our  own  and  of  other 
countries,  so  as  to  extend  our  commerce,  our  agriculture,  and 
our  manufactures.  The  wars  consequent  upon  the  French 
revolution,  throughout  the  greater  part  of  which  a  wise  neu- 
trality was  preserved,  opened  a  wide  field  for  mercantile 
enterprise,  secured  to  us  a  large  portion  of  the  carrying  trade 
of  the  civilized  world,  afforded  an  extensive  foreign  market 
for  the  productions  of  the  soil,  raised  our  country  to  a  high 
degree  of  maritime  importance,  with  a  rapidity  which  the 
n^ost  sanguine  could  not  have  anticipated;  secured  full  em- 
ployment to  our  whole  population,  and  rewarded  industry, 
not  only  with  comfort,  but  with  wealth. 

VV^e  will  pass  over  those  political  occurrences  which  pro- 
duced and  accompanied  the  termination  of  this  artificial  state 
of  things.     An   almost    universal   repose  from   the  strife  of 


nations,  h. is  restored  to  eacli,  an  opportunity  of  employing  its 
own  internal  resourceSj  and  of  transporting  to  other  countries, 
the  articles  resulting  from  its  in(histry;  this  new  born,  or  ex- 
tended attention  to  manufactures,  in  the  various  kingdoms  of 
Europe,  created  a  large  demand  for  some  of  the  unelaborated 
productions  of  our  soil;  and  the  income  thence  resulting,  con- 
tinued to  enable  us  still  to  import  Irom  foreign  countries,  many 
things  which  are  absolutely  necessary  to  our  comfort.  We 
cannot,  however,  possess  that  portion  of  independence  which 
ought  to  belong  to  us  as  a  nation  until  we  have  secured  the 
means  of  producing  these  among  ourselves;  the  truth  of  this 
position  was  abundantly  proved  by  the  experience  of  the  last 
war.  As  had  been  foreseen,  by  a  few  thinking  men,  the  re- 
source just  spoken  of,  was  only  temporary  ;  over  production, 
co-operating  with  other  causes,  has  depreciated  the  value  of 
our  staples,  until  the  sum  which  can  be  obtained  for  them,  will 
not  insure  even  a  moderate  compensation  for  the  labour  ne- 
cessary for  their  growth  and  transportation.  Whilst  men  are 
prosperous,  they  generally  act  as  thou2;h  the  sun  of  their 
prosperity  would  never  set;  instead  of  providing  for  the 
changes  which  attend  all  human  institutions,  they  too  fre- 
quently enjoy  the  good  things  of  the  day,  and  think  not  of 
commencing  those  pursuits,  which  wisdom  might  have  taught 
them,  must  come  next  in  their  turn^  until  compelled  so  to  do 
by  imperious  necessity.  It  has  long  been  felt  by  many,  that 
we  possess  the  capacity,  and  that  our  dearest  interests  de- 
mand that  our  energies  should  he  directed  to  the  establish- 
ment of  manufactories  upon  a  large  scale.  Enough  has  long 
since  been  effected  to  falsify  the  predictions  of  those  British 
economists  who  had  foretold  that  we  never  could  become  a 
manufacturing  people,  and  that,  in  this  particular,  therefore, 
our  independence  would  be  but  nominal;  and  the  advances 
which  have  been  made  within  a  few  years,  have  removed,  or, 
at  least,  have  shaken  the  opinions  of  those  among  ourselves, 
who  were  sceptical  upon  this  subject.  It  is  true,  there  still 
exists  much  honest  opposition  to  the  change  which  is  being 
effected;  but  these  honest  oppositionists  will,  ere  long,  be- 
come honest  supporters  of  the  American  system;  and  the 
few  refugees,  whose  affections  are  wedded  to  other  countries 
where  they  believe  their  interest  lies,  and  who  have,  even 
now,  almost  become  an  extinct  race,  will  scarcely  be  remem- 
bered. 

The  perfection  already  attained  in  the  manufacture  of  fine 
flint  glass,  and  the  extent  of  these  establishments,  are  such  as 


8 

would  have  appeared  altogether  visionary,  had  they  been 
foretold  but  a  few  years  ago;  for,  although  it  was  believed  that 
considerable  progress  might  be  made  in  those  manufactures 
where  labour-saving  machinery  could  be  used,  yet  few  were 
prepared  to  expect,  that  in  the  nice  operations  of  blowing  and 
cutting  flint  glass,  which  can  be  effected  only  by  manual  la- 
bour, and  individual  skill,  the  American  would  not  only  expel 
the  foreign  article  from  the  market,  but  would  be  afforded  at 
a  price  much  lower  than  that,  even  under  the  duty  formerly 
existing.  A  gentleman,  perfectly  conversant  with  this  busi- 
ness, one,  in  fact,  who  has  been  an  importer,  and  is  a  dealer 
in  fine  glass,  has  informed  me,  that  he  now  sells  at  ten  dollars 
per  dozen,  tumblers  which,  if  imported,  could  not  be  sold  for 
less  than  twenty-two  dollars.  We  have,  in  this,  a  striking 
example  of  the  advantage  derived  by  the  consumer,  from  the 
advanced  duty  imposed  by  the  tariff'of  1824,  which,  not  only 
protected  the  home-made  article,  but  has  also  greatly  reduced 
its  cost. 

The  advances  which  have  been  made  in  the  spinning, 
weaving,  and  printing  of  cotton,  are,  to  a  considerable  extent, 
generally  known.  In  these  manufactures  also,  the  benefit  of 
the  protecting  duty  has  been  clearly  manifested.  In  the  re- 
port drawn  up  by  Mr.  Niles,  the  chairman  of  the  committee 
appointed  by  the  Harrisburg  Convention,  there  are  the  fol- 
lowing remarks: 

"  One  pound  of  cotton  makes  nearly  four  yards  of  shirting. 
Now  look  at  the  progress  of  the  manufacture  of  cottons  in  the 
United  States.  In  1815,  when  cotton  was  at  20  cents  per 
pound,  a  yard  of  shirting  sold  for  25  cents,  and  the  cost  of 
the  cotton  (lib.,  worth  5  cents,)  being  deducted,  the  manu- 
facturers had  20  cents  for  their  labour  and  profit,  and  yet 
very  few  of  them  made  money,  because  of  the  want  of  ma- 
chinery, or  of  management  and  skill:  and  when  the  price  of 
cotton  in  1818,  was  32  cents,  and  the  stock  of  a  yard  of 
cloth  cost  8  cents,  the  price  of  it  was  only  21  cents;  leaving 
13  cents  to  the  manufacturer;  and,  with  this  advance  on  the 
raw  material,  the  most  of  them  were  actually  ruined.  But,  at 
the  present  time,  1S27,  when  the  price  of  cotton  is  9^  cents, 
the  same  sorts  of  shirting  are  sold  at  9i  cents,  leaving  only 
seven  cents  for  the  manufacturer,  (the  cost  of  the  cotton  being 
deducted,)  the  business  of  making  such  goods,  though  made 
cheaper  than  they  are  made  in  England,  is  a  good  one!'' 

Much  interesting  matter  might  he  added  upon  this  sub- 


ject,  but  as  I  have  some  other  topics  to  embrace,  the  pie- 
scribed  limits  of  this  address  admonish  me  to  be  brief. 

Connected,  intimately,  with  the  growth  of  manufactures, 
is  that  system  of  internal  improvement,  which  is  now  in  such 
successful  progress.  We  can  scarcely  pay  too  high  a  tribute 
to  our  enterprising  neighbours,  the  citizens  of  New  York,  for 
the  great  work  which  they  have  accomplished,  and  the  glo- 
rious example  which  they  have  placed  before  us.  If  they 
boast,  they  have  good  reason  so  to  do;  and  I  apprehend  that 
when  we  have  accomplished  as  much  as  they  have,  we  shall 
not  deem  a  little  boasting  to  be  vainglorious. 

The  citizens  of  Pennsylvania  are,  happily,  emulous  of  join- 
ing in  the  contest,  of  which  shall  be  foremost  in  improving 
the  gifts  of  Providence,  by  turning  our  rivers  to  the  best 
account,  in  making  them  become  the  feeders  of  navigable 
canals;  and  in  connecting,  by  rail  roads,  those  parts  of  the 
country  where  these  may  be  found  most  eligible;  and  those 
sections  of  our  internal  navigation,  where  the  want  of  a  suffi- 
cient supply  of  water,  or  other  serious  obstacles,  render  this 
adjunct  means  desirable. 

That  which  may  be  properly  denominated  the  first  section 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Canal,  will,  before  the  end  of  the  present 
month,  be  so  far  completed,  as  to  afford  a  passage  from  the 
Delaware  to  the  Susquehanna,  through  the  Schuylkill  navigation 
and  the  Union  Canal.  Much  also  has  been  done  both  on  the 
eastern  and  western  sections  of  the  Grand  Canal,  which,  with 
the  assistance  of  a  rail-road  on  the  summit  of  the  Alleghany, 
will  unite  the  Susquehanna  to  the  Ohio  at  Pittsburg,  by  the 
aid  of  the  Alleghany  and  Kiskiminitas  rivers.  Tiiose  who 
have  traversed  that  mountain  region,  can  in  some  degree 
estimate  the  proud  trophy  of  human  skill  and  prrseverance, 
which  will  be  furnished  by  surmounting  the  barriers  which 
appear  in  all  directions  to  obstruct  the  course.  On  the  banks 
of  our  own  Delaware,  also,  the  excavations  have  been  com- 
menced, which  will  give  an  easy  conveyance  from  Bristol  to 
Easton,  a  distance  of  between  seventy  and  eighty  miles,  pass- 
ing the  falls  and  the  rapids  which  now  interfeie  with  the 
navigation.  Many  other  similar  works,  either  in  contempla- 
tion, or  in  progress,  in  our  own,  and  other  parts  of  the  union, 
might  be  made  to  add  brilliancy  to  this  sketch,  but  cannot 
now  be  even  named.  The  most  satisfactory  point  of  view  in 
which  they  can  be  contemplated,  is,  as  connecting  links  in  the 
great  federal  chain,  wiiich,  strengthened  by  their  means,  will, 
we  believe,  endure  for  ages,  a  pattern  and  a  proof  of  the  ex- 


10 

cellence  of  republican  institutions.  The  great  progress  which 
has  been  made  in  the  work  of  internal  improvement,  and  more 
especially  in  the  establishment  of  manufactures,  has  hitherto 
been  principally  confined  to  the  eastern,  the  middle,  and  the 
western  states.  There  are,  however,  several  works  for  the 
spinnins;  of  cotton  to  the  south  of  the  Potomac,  and  others 
are  on  the  eve  of  being;  established;  and  if  I  am  not  greatly  in 
error,  another  bond  of  union  will;  in  the  course  of  a  very  few 
years,  be  added  to  the  confederacy  by  a  community  of  pur- 
suit, in  the  extension  of  manufactures,  over  that  important 
section  of  our  country. 

I  have,  for  some  years,  been  convinced,  that  the  slaves  in 
those  states  might  be  advantageously  employed  in  the  manufac- 
turing of  some  staple  articles,  and  more  particularly  in  that 
of  cotton;  this  conviction  I  have  long  forborne  to  promulgate, 
because  I  have  thought  that  the  only  result  would  be  to  affix 
on  myself  the  imputation  of  singularity,  at  least,  if  not  of 
absurdity.  I  rejoice,  hov/ever,  to  perceive  that  the  question 
of  the  practicability,  and  the  eligibility  of  the  measure  has 
lately  become  a  subject  of  discussion  in  the  public  papers,  and 
that  much  has  been  said  in  its  favour.  While  expressing  my 
own  convictions  and  anticipations  upon  this  point,  I  am  aware 
that  they  will  appear  sanguine,  if  not  extravagant,  even  to 
those  who,  to  a  certain  extent,  think  favourably  of  the  pro- 
position: these  opinions,  however,  have  been  the  result  of 
much  observation  and  reflection,  under  circumstances  particu- 
larly favourable  to  the  formation  of  a  correct  judgment. 

It  has  formed  no  small  portion  of  my  occupation  through 
life,  to  render  myself  familiar  with  the  structure  of  machines, 
and  their  application  to  manufactures;  and  to  estimate  the 
portion  of  skill  required  in  their  management,  in  establish- 
ments upon  a  large  scale,  where  the  division  of  labour  is  ne- 
cessarily carried  to  the  utmost  extent.  I  have  also  resided 
for  a  considerable  number  of  years  in  the  southern  states,  and 
have,  in  consequence,  acquired  some  share  of  knowledge,  with 
regard  to  the  habits,  inclinations,  and  capacities  of  the  negroes; 
the  result  of  which  is,  that  I  am  thoroughly  convinced,  not 
only  that  they  may  be  profitably  employed  as  manufacturers, 
but  that  they  are  peculiarly  suited  to  this  purpose.  It  would 
be  improper,  here,  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  the  question, 
whether  the  negroes  are  absolutely  inferior  to  the  whites  in 
intellect;  and  indeed  were  we  able  to  settle  this  question,  it 
would  scarcely  affect  that  upon  which  I  am  speaking,  as  only 


11 

a  small  degree  of  intelligence  is  necessary  to  the  acquisition  of 
the  utmost  skill  in  the  performance  of  an  individual  operation, 
however  delicate  it  may  be.  In  all  extensive  manufactories, 
we  meet  the  veriest  dolts,  who  become,  as  it  were,  a  part  of 
the  operative  machinery;  performing,  from  habit,  the  busi- 
ness allotted  to  them,  with  a  degree  of  dexterity  and  preci- 
sion which  appears  almost  miraculous,  and  which  those  who 
are  adepts  in  other  departments  of  the  same  business,  might 
essay  in  vain. 

The  object  proposed  to  be  accomplished,  is  to  teach  the 
negroes  to  work  machines  which  have  already  been  invented, 
and  extensively  used;  their  occupations  would  be  those  of 
mere  routine,  and  for  this  they  are  peculiarly  fitted;  their 
deficiency  in  imagination  and  inventive  genius  may  fairly  be 
thrown  into  the  scale  of  advantages,  rather  than  into  that  of 
objections.  With  respect  to  the  actual  employment  of  slaves 
in  manufacturing  hempen  bagging  in  Kentuckj'-,  I  extract  the 
following  remarks  from  one  of  the  essays  upon  this  subject, 
which  appeared  first  in  the  Ariel,  published  at  Natchez, 
Mississippi,  and  since  in  the  American  Farmer,  and  some 
other  papers: 

"  Strange  as  it  may  appear  to  those  who  have  never  ob- 
served for  themselves,  nor  reflected  on  this  matter, it  is  demon- 
strably true,  that  slaves  are  the  most  profitable  of  all  operatives 
in  the  business  of  manufacturing  coarse  fabrics,  where  inge- 
nuity has  furnished  them  with  suitable  machinery.  In  Ken- 
tucky, for  instance,  by  the  assistance  of  trifling  machines, 
slaves  manufacture  vast  quantities  of  hempen  bagging.  We, 
indeed,  scarcely  see  any  other  operatives  in  the  great  factories 
of  Lexington,  Paris,  Danville,  Shelbyville,  and  other  towns 
in  Kentucky. 

*'  If  we  except  a  manager  or  two,  and  a  machinist,  neither 
Englishmen,  Scotchmen,  nor  even  New  Englandmen,  are  to 
be  seen  in  these  profitable  establishments.  Why  are  slaves 
employed  ?  Simply  because  experience  has  proved  that  they 
are  more  docile,  more  constant,  and  cheaper,  than  freemen, 
who  are  often  refractory  and  dissipated;  who  waste  much 
time  by  visiting  public  places,  attending  musters,  elections, 
&c.  which  the  operative  slave  is  not  permitted  to  frequent.* 


•  The  cheapness  of  slave  labour  may  be  seen  from  a  statement  made  by 
Mr.  J.  T.  Kilby,  of  Virginia,  which  appeared  in  the  American  Farmer  of 
the  2d  inst.      The  following  are  the  rates  at  which  he  estimates  it. 


12 

The  quantity  of  bagging  and  cordage  used  for  the  packing 
of  cotton,  is  immense,  as  will  appear  from  the  statements  of 
the  demand  for  them  in  some  of  the  cotton  growing  states. 
In  Louisiana  and  Mississippi,  only,  the  last  crop  was  esti- 
mated to  require  800,000  yards  of  bagging;  consuming,  if 
made  of  cotton  instead  of  hemp,  2500  bales  of  400  lbs.  each; 
and  should  the  cordage  be  made  of  the  same  material,  the 
amount  used  would  be  doubled,  say  5000  bales,  or  two  millions 
of  pounds.  The  facts  appear  to  be  sufficiently  well  ascertained, 
that  the  bagging  and  rope  can  be  made  much  cheaper  from 
cotton,  than  from  hemp ;  that  it  is  equally  suitable  for  the 
purpose,  and  in  some  respects  superior;  it  is  averred,  that 
cotton  bagging  can  be  made  at  16  cents  per  yard,  which  shall 
equal  in  quality  the  hemp  bagging,  formerly  imported  in  large 
quantities  from  Scotland,  and  that  it  may  be  advantageously 
substituted  for  the  Kentucky  bagging,  which  is  about  40  per 
cent,  dearer. 

"  It  is  computed  that  North  Alabama  consumes  300,000 
yards  of  cotton  bagging  annually,  at  an  average  expense  of 
^100,000,  which  large  amount  is  principally  paid  to  the  Ken- 
tucky manufacturers  in  money.  Of  the  coarse  clothing  which 
is  annually  imported,  it  is  impossible  to  take  even  a  conjec- 
tural estimate  of  the  quantity. '^  Some  progress  has  been 
made  in  supplying  coarse  cottons  from  slave  labour  in  Ten- 
nessee, where  a  factory  has  actually  been  established,  in 
which  the  entire  labour  is  performed  by  negroes;  a  large  por- 


An  able  man  may  be  hired  for  a  year  for      -        -        -  -    $35 

Feeding  from  18  to  25,  say 20 

Clothing  10  to  15       -        - -      12 

Taxes,  about 2 

69 

Boys  or  girls,  under  12  years  of  age, 8 

Feeding 20 

Clothing -        .        -       8 

$36 

Women — hire      -        -        -    - 17 

Feeding 20 

Clothing  8 

Taxes  -  2 

It  is  easy  for  any  one  to  contrast  the  foregoing  with  the  prices  usually 
paid  to  white  labourers,  which  will  average  about  three  times  the  above 
amounts,  whilst  from  the  causes  enumerated  in  the  extract,  the  negroes,  in 
steadiness,  will  veiy  far  surpass  the  great  mass  of  the  whites: 


13 

lion  of  Tennessee  and  North  Alabama  are  supplied  from  it 
with  coarse  cotton  goods ;  the  works  are  said  to  be  very  pro- 
fitable, being  quadruple  that  of  the  cotton  grower,  with  the 
same  number  of  hands. 

A  proposition  to  encourage  the  employment  of  slaves  in  the 
manufacturing  of  cotton  bagging,  cotton  cordage,  cotton  blank- 
ets, and  coarse  clothing,  was  made  at  a  public  meeting  con- 
vened for  the  purpose,  at  Natchez,  in  July  last,  and  such 
preliminary  measures  adopted,  as  were  thought  to  be  neces- 
sary for  the  attainment  of  the  end.  The  resolutions  passed 
were  conceived  in  a  spirit  of  liberality,  embracing  the  promo- 
tion of  manufactures  in  every  part  of  the  union.  Their  views 
were,  very  properly,  restricted  to  essaying,  in  the  first  instance, 
the  coarser  fabrics;  it  will  be  seen,  however,  in  the  course  of 
this  address,  that  I  am  of  opinion  much  more  than  this,  can, 
and  will,  be  accomplished,  as  I  believe  the  slave  population 
to  be  peculiarly  fitted  to  learn,  and  to  perform  most  of  the 
operations  required  in  the  cotton  mill. 

Early  impressions,  and  habit,  are  alone  sufficient  to  account 
for  the  expectations,  and  even  the  desires,  of  the  slave  being 
circumscribed  within  very  narrow  limits;  one  of  his  most 
ardent  wishes,  however,  is  to  learn  some  mechanical  business, 
and  he  who  has  a  trade  is,  by  common  consent,  considered  as 
superior  in  situation  to  him  who  works  upon  the  plantation, 
and  even  to  the  house  servant.  Many,  indeed  the  greater 
part  of  them,  are  but  indifferent  workmen;  this,  it  is  evident, 
does  not  arise  from  a  want  of  capacity  to  become  otherwise, 
but  from  defective  instruction,  indifierent  tools,  afid  that  slo- 
venly habit  of  doing  almost  every  thing  with  make-shifts,  as 
they  are  called,  which  is  perhaps  unavoidable  under  existing 
circumstances.  Indeed  it  is  rather  matter  of  surprise,  that  so 
much  skill  exists  as  is  frequently  manifested,  where  nearly 
every  plantation  has  its  blacksmith  and  its  carpenter,  whose 
operations  are  limited  to  the  immediate  wants  of  home;  were 
white  men  brought  up  under  the  like  circumstances,  it  may 
fairly  be  questioned  whether  they  would  exhibit  any  portion 
of  that  superiority  which  is  so  generally  ascribed  to  them. 

In  all  the  larger  towns,  and  in  many  of  the  smaller,  there 
are  negro  workmen,  particularly  blacksmiths,  who  execute 
with  great  cleverness,  and,  sometimes,  with  extraordinary 
skill.  I  have  seen  several  well  made  screw  presses,  for 
baling  cotton,  which  were  entirely  the  work  of  negroes;  the 
gins,  which  are  almost  as  numerous  as  the  larger  plantations 
of  cotton,  are  usually  tended  exclusively  by  them,  although 


14 

they  exact  as  much  care  and  skill  as  are  generally  required  in 
the  processes  of  the  manufacture  of  that  article  into  yarn  and 
cloth. 

The  negro  possesses,  in  general,  a  degree  of  emulation, 
equal,  at  least,  to  that  of  the  white  labourer;  I  say  at  least 
equal,  but,  in  my  estimation,  it  is  superior;  I  have  been  re- 
peatedly struck  with  the  avidity  with  which  they  seek,  and 
the  gratitude  with  which  they  receive  instruction  on  any 
point  relating  to  their  business;  and  surprised  to  hear  how 
anxiously  the  wish  has  been  expressed  that  they  could  visit 
the  north,  to  see  and  to  learn  new  methods  of  working;  a 
wish  entirely  unconnected,  I  am  sure,  with  any  other  idea 
than  the  simple  one  expressed.  Although  thus  emulous,  the 
emulation  of  the  negro  is  limited  to  his  own  particular  busi- 
ness, and  if  this  be  one  simple  operation,  requiring  to  be 
perpetually  repeated,  he  is  perfectly  satisfied  to  pursue  it, 
and  will  be  proud  of  any  superior  skill  which  he  may  acquire. 

Assuming  these  positions  as  facts,  and  such  I  know  them 
to  be,  it  will  readily  be  admitted,  that  better  materials  for 
making  workmen,  in  any  regular,  and  ordinary  manufacture, 
where  labour-saving  machinery  is  employed,  do  not  exist  any 
where.  It  is  not  merely  in  cotton  bagging,  and  other  fabrics 
of  the  coarser  kind,  that  the  negro  may  be  employed;  al- 
though these  will  necessarily  come  first  in  order,  he,  I  am 
convinced,  will  be  found  equal  to  the  production  of  some  of 
the  finer  articles  furnished  in  the  spinning  factory,  and  by 
the  loom;  what  valid  reason  can  be  urged  to  the  contrary,  I 
am  utterly  at  a  loss  to  divine. 

So  little  aware  of  this  fact,  or  so  averse  to  its  manifestation, 
have  been  those  persons  who  have  conducted  the  establish- 
ments for  cotton  spinning,  to  the  south,  that  in  mills  which 
have  been  in  operation  for  three  or  four  years,  none  but  white 
persons  are,  or  were  lately,  employed,  excepting  in  offices  of 
mere  labour.  Some  enterprising  individuals  are  now  esta- 
blishing cotton  works  in  the  vicinity  of  Petersburg  in  Virginia; 
a  gentleman  who  has  taken  great  interest  in  this  subject,  ac- 
cidentally met  with  the  superintendent,  and  inquired  whether 
it  was  his  intention  to  employ  negroes  in  the  manufactory; 
he  replied  that  it  was  a  thing  of  which  he  had  never  thought; 
and  until  very  lately,  all  the  owners  of  slaves  appear  to  have 
been  in  the  same  predicament:  even  now,  there  are  but 
few  of  them  prepared  to  give  credit  to  the  doctrine  which  I 
have  so  confidently  advanced;  this,  however,  need  not  excite 
surprise,  as  most  of  them  are  acquainted  with  the  manufac- 


15 

tured  goods  in  their  finished  state  only,  and  cannot,  therefore, 
estimate  the  moderate  portion  of  skill  required  by  each  indi- 
vidual employed  in  their  formation — this  can  be  done  only 
by  those  acquainted  with  the  details  of  the  workshop. 

Should  the  truth  of  the  doctrine  which  I  have  advocated 
be  admitted,  the  philanthropist,  and  the  political  economist, 
will  hail  with  equal  pleasure  the  change  which  will  be  effected 
in  the  south,  by  the  introduction  of  manufacturing  establish- 
ments; as  it  will,  at  the  same  time,  add  greatly  to  the  com- 
fort of  the  slave,  and  to  the  solid  wealth  of  the  community. 
For  a  considerable  period  the  planters  in  many  places  have 
found  it  extremely  difficult  to  pay  their  current  expenses,  and 
to  feed  and  clothe  their  negroes,  from  the  annual  produce  of 
their  lands;  and  thousands  have  removed  to  the  more  fertile 
regions  in  the  western  states,  not  with  the  expectation  of  ac- 
cumulating wealth,  but  merely  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining 
a  ready  and  abundant  supply  for  their  negro  families;  thou- 
sands more  of  our  southern  fellow-citizens  will  be  compelled 
to  adopt  the  same  expedient,  unless  some  new  resource  be 
obtained. 

Do  not  imagine  that  I  am  the  friend  of  slavery,  or  that  I 
would  willingly  promote  any  measures  which  I  believed  to  be 
in  the  slightest  degree  calculated  to  extend,  and  perpetuate, 
this  great  moral  evil.  At  the  present  day  slavery  has  but 
few  advocates;  and  they  are  as  rare  among  the  intelligent 
slave-holders  to  the  south,  as  they  are  with  us.  A  long  resi- 
dence among  them,  and  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  many 
of  them,  enable  me  to  make  this  declaration  with  the  most 
undoubting  confidence;  and  I  feel  therefore  that  in  making 
it,  I  perform  an  act  of  simple  justice  only,  and  should  be 
much  gratified  if  I  were  able  to  remove  any  portion  of  that 
prejudice  which  tends  to  estrange  one  part  of  our  country 
from  the  other.  When  I  first  removed  to  the  south,  I  carried 
with  me  many  of  those  prejudices  which  are  common  in  the 
non-slave-holding  states;  and  although,  from  the  very  nature 
of  moral  truth,  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  see  any  thing 
which  could  lessen  my  abhorrence  of  slavery,  in  the  abstract, 
I  yet  found  that  much  more  had  been  done  than  I  had  appre- 
hended, and  that  much  is  still  in  progress,  to  lessen  its  attend- 
ing evils;  and  was  also  thoroughly  convinced,  that  its  removal 
is  a  problem  of  no  easy  solution.  The  work,  however,  is 
making  a  sure,  though  slow,  progress;  the  slaves  are  gradu- 
ally acquiring  information,  and  their  owners  generally  both 
confess,  and  feel  the  iniquity  of  the  system.     Examples  of 


16 

cruelty  are  very  rare,  and  indelible  disgrace  affixes  itself  to 
him  who  has  the  character  of  being  a  bad  master.  The 
friends  of  emancipation  must  rejoice  should  one  of  the  mo»t 
serious  obstacles  to  its  accomplishment  be  removed,  by  train- 
ing the  slave  to  habits  of  industry,  in  a  business  which  will 
tend  to  prepare  him  for  a  state  of  freedom,  and  thus  pave  the 
way  for  the  gradual  removal  of  an  entailed  evil,  which  can- 
not be  directly,  or  suddenly,  touched,  without  committing 
monstrous  injustice  in  the  case  of  both  the  parties  concerned. 

At  present,  the  occupation  of  the  plantation  slave,  is,  in 
many  instances,  an  alternation  between  absolute  idleness  and 
severe  labour ;  most  of  the  crops  raised,  demanding  at  one 
period,  unremitted  attention,  and  at  others,  allowing  long  in- 
tervals of  complete  relaxation.  The  principal  product  of  the 
plantation  which  exacts  regular  attendance,  and  aflfords  em- 
ployment to  the  younger  negroes,  is  the  cotton  crop;  and 
this  circumstance  has  operated  as  a  strong  inducement  to  many 
planters  to  cultivate  it;  as  every  intelligent  man  is  aware  that 
moderate,  and  regularly  continued  labour,  is  the  most  favour- 
able to  the  physical,  and  moral  constitution  of  man.  The 
period,  however,  has  arrived,  when,  as  I  have  already  re- 
marked, the  cotton  crop  will  not,  in  many  situations,  pay  for 
its  cwlture,  preparation,  and  carriage  to  market;  and  it  is  ab- 
solutely necessary  that  other  employment  should  be  found  for 
the  hands,  there  being  no  probability,  and  scarcely  a  possi- 
bility, of  an  advance  in  the  price ;  indeed,  the  very  reverse 
of  this  may  be  anticipated.  I  have  attempted  to  indicate 
that  new  employment,  which  is  so  much  needed,  and  to  prove 
that  it  is  not  only  necessary  and  desirable,  but  practicable. 

In  the  introduction  of  every  new  system,  difficulties  are 
to  be  encountered,  and  removed ;  but  those  which  at  first 
appear  insuperable,  yield  readily,  and  rapidly,  to  the  energy 
of  determined  perseverance.  In  the  present  instance,  as  in 
most  others,  prejudice  and  habit,  both  stand  in  the  vvay.  The 
south  will  not  supply  persons  able  to  establish,  or  to  superin- 
tend these  new  manufactories,  and  the  proper  management 
of  the  slave,  requires  considerable  knowledge  and  experience; 
his  usefulness,  and  even  his  happiness,  demands  that  the  kind 
of  familiarity  which  is  admissible  among  white  persons  should 
be  avoided,  and  that  the  difference  of  situation  should  be 
constantly,  and  distinctly  marked  ;  and  all  this  may  be,  and 
is  done,  without  violating  the  duties  of  kindness,  or  of  hu* 
manity.  Persons  brought  up  to  the  north,  frequently  err  in 
this  point;  for  although  there  are  some  whose  understandings 


17 

will  enable  them  at  once  to  adopt  the  right  course,  the  greater 
number  are  inclined  to  be  at  first  too  famiiiur,  and  subsequently 
loo  severe,  and  there  is  constquently  sonie  \^ell  gicundcd 
prejudice  agninst  making  lliem  the  managers  of  negroes.  This 
m;iy  limit  the  number  of  suitable  managers,  yet  il  is  not  an 
insuperable  objection  to  the  system  1  am  a(!vocating;  the 
practice  of  a  few  years  would  enable  the  south  to  supply  her 
own  superintendents,  and  in  many  respects  with  manifest  ad- 
vantiige  to  herself. 

There  is  another  class  of  persons  existing  in  the  southern 
states,  who  are  in  fact,  though  free,  less  happily  situated  than 
the  slaves  themselves,  and  which  by  t!^e  extensive  introduction 
of  the  manufacturing  system,  would  not  only  be  redeemed 
from  wretchedness,  but  become  a  mine  of  wealth  to  the 
country,  instead  of  remaining  a  degraded  cast,  and  a  heavy 
burden;  1  allude  to  the  poorer  portion  of  the  white  inhabit- 
ants; among  these  there  is  a  very  large  number  of  widow-s, 
with  families  of  children,  who,  with  the  utmost  efforts  of  their 
industry,  earn  a  miserable  and  precarious  subsistence;  of  these, 
ail  who  are  able,  would  soon  be  employed.  That  the  number 
of  widows  and  orphans,  in  the  situation  represented,  should 
be  comparatively  much  greater,  in  the  southern,  thau  in  the 
northern  stales,  may,  to  some,  appear  paradoxical  and  incre- 
dible; it  is,  however,  a  fact;  and  one  for  which  it  would  not 
be  difficult  to  assign  a  reason,  were  it  necessary,  or  suitable  to 
the  occasion. 

It  is  a  subject  of  increasing  difficulty  in  the  part  of  our 
country  of  which  I  am  speaking,  that  the  occupations  are  so 
few,  which  are  deemed  reputable  for  the  sons  of  those  who  are 
in  good  circumstances;  and,  in  the  present  state  of  things,  this 
difficulty  is  a  real  one.  The  encouragement  to  become  plant- 
ers is  very  small  indeed,  and  the  professions  of  medicine,  and 
of  law,  are  overstocked;  manufactories  do  not  exist  upon  a 
scale  sufficiently  extensive  to  afford  acceptable  stations;  and 
until  they  do,  it  would  argue  but  little  knowledge  of  the  state 
of  affairs  in  the  south,  or  of  the  principles  of  liuman  nature,  to 
expect  those  who  are  considered  as  holding  a  station  in  the 
higher  walks  of  society,  to  devote  their  attention  to  the  me- 
chanic arts.  A  deficiency  in  the  requisite  talents  will  not  be 
expected,  for  although  the  opportur^ities  of  displaying  it  have 
been  le^^s  numerous,  the  same  aptitude  at  invention  and  adapta- 
tion, exists  in  the  south,  which  is  so  characteristic  of  the  inha- 
bitants of  the  northern  states.  The  records  of  the  patent 
office,  and  numerous  ingenious  contrivances  which  have  been 
3 


dfvised,  and  are  in  use,  might  be  adduced,  were  proofof  this 
thouglit  necessary. 

Of  the  awakening  attention  of  the  south,  to  the  difTusion 
of  information  on  tiie  important  subject  of  the  meclianic  arts, 
many  evidences  might  be  adduced;  one  only  shall  be  men- 
tioned; the  board  of  visiters  of  the  University  of  Viiginia, 
have,  by  a  recent  regulation,  made  it  the  particular  duty  of 
the  professor  of  natural  philosophy,  to  include  in  his  course 
of  lectures,  the  application  of  this  science  to  operative  mecha- 
nics. 

It  may  be  thought  by  some,  and  perhaps  correctly,  that  a 
subject  might  have  been  chosen  better  suited  to  the  j)urpose 
of  an  opening  address,  to  the  Franklin  Institute,  tlian  that  to 
which  I  have  given  a  prominent  place.  The  uses  and  im- 
portance of  science  to  the  artisan  have  been  so  frequently 
treated  on,  that  the  subject  has  become  trite,  and  they  are  now 
so  generally  admitted,  as  scarcely  to  need  being  insisted 
upon:  that  which  I  have  preferred  appeared  to  me  to  be  one 
of  high  interest  to  every  citizen;  and  one  also  which  will 
inevitably,  and  quickly,  force  itself  upon  public  attention.  A 
topic  so  immediately  connected  with  the  extension  of  manu- 
factures in  our  common  country,  cannot  be  out  of  place  when 
brought  before  an  institution,  which,  though  nominally  Penn- 
sylvanian,  is  essentially  national. 

To  the  political  economist  I  commit  the  discussion  of  the 
question  as  it  respects  its  connexion  with  his  inquiries.  I 
have  very  slender  claims  to  knowledge  upon  this  subject;  in 
fact,  I  can  scarcely  say,  that  I  have  formed  a  theory  for  my- 
self; although  I,  of  necessity, entertain  opinions  which  appear 
to  me  to  have  their  foundntion  in  practical  truth,  which  is 
my  only  guide. — In  the  field  of  political  science  I  have  been 
only  a  gleaner ;  my  attention  has  been  directed  almost  exclu- 
sively to  the  physical  sciences;  and  these  admit  of  no  Procrus- 
tean bed,  but  consider  every  well  established  fact  as  standing 
upon  a  basis  which  no  theory  can  remove. 


CALL  NUMBER 

326.7 
J79 


VoL 


Date  (for  periodical) 


Copy  No. 


i^wr 


2  IS84 


Author: 

Janes 


Title: 


An     address 


r  Your  Name: 


